Lubricating device



Feb. 21, 1933. R. c. KENDALL LUBRICATING DEVICE Filed March 18, 1950 Patented Feb. 21, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A 1 ROBERT C. KENDALL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS LUBRICATIN G DEVICE Application filed March 18, 1930. Serial No. 436,726.

is not limited thereto.

Injournal boxes of railway cars, and the like, much difficulty has been encountered heretofore in properlylubricating the bearings, and many attempts have been made 'to provide lubricating means therefor with little or no success. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple device which may be quickly and easily attached in place in a journal box and which will accommodate itself to the various positions of the axle therein that are likely to be assumed by it. Another object is to provide a lubricating device in the form of an oil applying wick, supported by yielding means and held in contact with the axle in all positions assumed by the axle when the car is traveling.

With these andother objects and advantages in view, this invention consists in the several novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

This invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing accompanyingthis specification in which 7 Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal section through a journal box of conventional form and showing a simple embodiment of the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical cross section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; l

Fig. 5 is a detail plan of the lubricating device remo-vedfrom the journal box; and

Fig. 6 is a detail horizontal section taken on the line 6*6 of Fig. 1.

Referring to said drawing, which illustrates one embodiment of the present invention, the reference character 7 designates a journal box of conventional form having the usual bearing brass 8 which rests upon the axle 9. As is customary, the journal box is provided with a well 10 for the reception of i l oil and it has a door or lid 11 for closing its open end. These parts are of standard construction and require no detailed description as far as this specification is concerned.

The lubricating device comprises in general a supporting bar 12 and a wick 13 suspended by said supporting bar with its upper end let yieldably held in contact with the side of the axle, and its lower end 15 submerged in the oil contained in the well 10. It will be understood that the oil is carried to the axle by the capillary attraction.

The supporting bar 12 is arranged to extend horizontally in the interior of the j ournal box 7 at one side of the axle and one end 16 of said supporting bar is offset, as is more clearly seen in Figs. 3 and 5, so as to space the main part 17 of the bar away from the side wall of the journal box. The offset por- 0 tion 16 is secured to the side wall of the journal box by bolts and nuts 18.

The upper end of the wick 13 is secured to a pressure bar 19 which normally extends parallel with the supporting bar 17 and is 5 movably connected thereto by links 20 which are pivotally connected to the pressure bar 19 and have sliding connections with the supporting bar 17. The pivotal connections be tween the links 20 and pressure bar 19 may comprise hinge pieces formed of short strips 21 of metal bent up, asseen in Fig. 5, to form eyes for the links to turn in, and riveted to the pressure bar. The connections between the supporting bar 17 and links 20 may comprise short strips 22 of metal bent up to form the offset portions, and which are riveted to the bar 17, as' seen in Fig. 5, so as to provide slots or guideways in which the ends of the links 20 may slide.

The links 20 converge towards each other from their pivotal connections with the pressure bar 19 and before installation in a j ournal box are held in engagement with the outer ends of the slots (see Fig. 5) by a flat bowed spring 23 riveted midway between its ends to the supporting bar, as at 24, and bearing at its two ends upon the hinge pieces 21. Said spring 23 also acts to put pressure upon the pressure bar, so that when installed in the journal box, the upper end portion of the wick is pressed against the side of the axle.

lVhen the pressure of the spring 23 against the pressure bar is opposed, as is the case when the device is installed in a journal box, the ends of the links that are contained in the slots are caused to approach each other, as seen in Fig. 3, which enables the wick and its pressure bar to move longitudinally with respect to the supporting bar within a limited extent, and this is of great importance inasmuch as the wick is thereby permitted to move longitudinally with the axle during any reciprocatory movements of the latter ca'used in the travel of the car. Furthermore, the link connection between the pressure bar and supporting bar permits the pressure bar and therewith the wick to tilt with respect to the pressure bar and thus accommodate the wick to the axle whenever the axle assumes a position out of alignment with the axis of the journal box. Furthermore, the pressure bar is capable of a slight amount of vertical movement with respect to the supporting bar due to the clearance between said bars and the top and bottom members of the links which enables the pressure bar and wick to accom- Inodate themselves to any tilting movement of the axle, whereby the pressure bar will constantly tend to remain parallel with the axis of rotation of the axle. The wick is constructed of absorbent material, preferably of connected strands of cotton, and its upper end is doubled upon itself, as seen in Fig. 4, and secured to the pressure bar 19 by staples 25, the ends 26 of the pressure bar being preferably bent back over the edge portions of the wick to more securely fasten the edge portions to the pressure bar.

The supporting bar 12 islocated slightly below a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the axle, as is seen in Fig. 2, whereby the upper end portion of the wick is held in engagement with the side of the axle directly below said horizontal plane. The lower end portion of the wick is submerged in the oil contained in the well of the journal box and absorbs the oil, which is carried to the axle by capillary attraction.

With the construction shown, a light pressure is placed upon the pressure bar, and, as a result, the upper end portion of the wick is pressed lightly against the axle, thereby avoiding excessive wear upon the wick. By reason of the flexible connections between the wick and its supporting bar, and the peculiar arrangement of spring, the upper end portion of the wick is free to align itself with the axle, despite any changes of angularity of the axle caused in the movement of the car along the rails.

Furthermore, because of the sliding connection between the wick and its supporting bar, the wick may move in a direction lengthwise of the axle, and being confined between the shouldered portion of the axle, it is caused to move longitudinally with the axle by the engagement of said shouldered parts with the wick. The device is capable of being readily installed in place and requires no further attention except to see that a suitable quantity of oil is maintained in the well of the journal box.

While the lubricating device has been shown and described in connection with a journal box, it is to be understood that its use is not limited thereto, as it is capable of use for lubricating journal bearings of all kinds, only such slight changes being necessary to accommodate it to said bearings as will readily present themselves to any one skilled'in the art to which this invention pertains. Y

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possible without departing from the spirit ofthis invention. I desire, therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form of the construction shown and described, but intend, in the following claims, .to point out all of the invention disclosed herein.

' I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A lubricating device comprising in combination a supporting member having a rigid connection with a journal box, a pressure member, a wick suspended by said pressure member, a supporting connections between said supporting member and pressure member pivotally mounted on "one of said members and having a sliding connection with the other whereby the pressure member may move in a direction lengthwise of the object which is to be lubricated and may yield in a lateral direction, and a spring between said members acting to spread said members apart and therewith press the upper end portion of the wick against the object which is to be lubricated.

2. A lubricating device comprising in combination a supporting bar having a rigid connection with a journal box, a pressure bar, a wick suspended by said pressure bar, supporting connections between said supporting bar and pressure bar and pivotally mounted on the pressure bar and having sliding connections with the supporting bar whereby the pressure member may move in a direction lengthwise of the object which is to be lubricated and may yield in a lateral direction, and a spring between said supporting bar and pressure bar acting to spread said bars apart and therewith press the upper end portion of the wick against the object which is to be lubricated.

3. 'A lubricating device comprising in combination a supporting bar having an offset portion adapted tobe secured to the inner wall of a journal box, said supporting bar, being provided with spaced slots along its length, a pressure bar normally extending parallel with said supporting bar and having supporting link connections therewith slidably guided in said slots and capable of independent angular movement whereby the pressure bar may tilt relative to the supporting bar, a spring interposed between said bars and acting to spread them apart, and a wick suspended by said pressure bar.

4. A lubricating device comprising in combination a supporting bar provided with spaced slots along its length, a pressure bar normally extending parallel with said sup porting bar, links pivotally connected at one end to said pressure bar and at the other end slidably guided in the slots of the supporting bar, a bowed spring secured midway between its ends to said supporting bar with its ends in pressing engagement with the pressure bar, and a wick secured to and suspended from said pressure bar with its upper end portion projecting above the pressure bar.

5. A lubricating device for journal boxes comprising in combination a horizontally extending supporting bar having an offset portion arranged to be secured to an inner wall of the journal boxand provided with strips having offset portions forming spaced guideways along the length of the supporting bar, a pressure bar normally extending parallel with said supporting bar, links pivotally connected at one end to said pressure bar, said link-s converging towards each other from their point of connection with the pressure bar and being slidably guided in the slots of the supporting bar, a bowed spring secured to one of said bars and bearing at two points against the other bar, and a wick secured to and suspended from said pressure bar with its upper end portion in pressing contact with an axle journaled in said journal box.

6. A lubricating device comprising a unitary structure composed of a wick supporting member adapted to be fixedly secured to a wall of a journal box, a wick, and a wick holding member secured to and yieldably supported by said supporting bar at two spaced places thereon and capable of tilting towards and away from the supporting bar.

7. A lubricating device comprising a unitary structure composed of a wick supporting member adapted to be fixedly secured to a wall of a journal box, a wick, a wick holding member secured to the wick, and sliding and swinging connections between said wick holding member and wick supporting bar at two spaced places thereon for affording a sliding and tilting connection therebetween.

8. A lubricating device comprising in combination a supporting bar arranged to be rigidly supported in a journal box in substantially parallel relation to an axle journaled therein, a pressure bar, spaced slidable and swingable supporting connections between said supporting bar and pressure bar for yieldably holding the latter in parallel relation to said axle and providing angular and longitudinal movement forthe pressure bar with respect to the supportmg bar, a spring between said supporting bar and pressure bar acting to spread said bars apart, and a wok having its upper end portion secured to said pressure bar in position to engage wlth the side of the axle.

ROBERT C. KENDALL. 

